Empress Solarium Table - Walnut

James Watt, a life-long resident of piedmont North Carolina, attended college at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. He graduated in 1986, acquiring a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Technology, with a concentration in Furniture Design and Production. He then worked in management for a major furniture manufacturer for approximately one year. Preferring the "hands on" experience of being directly involved in the production process from start to finish, as well as a preference for quality that surpasses the mass production line, he moved on, securing employment with a small furniture shop in central North Carolina. There, he helped to develop and produce fine quality antique reproductions for a period of ten years. During the late 1990s and early 2000s James took a break from woodworking, declaring that he would return to the trade once he could own a shop and have creative control over what he produced. In mid-2006 he established his shop in Randolph County, NC. Initially James treated his new venture as a hobby, producing items for gifts and personal use, and in early 2007 James established Distinctions Furniture & Accessories and made his first public offerings.

James' design philosophy is that an item be functional in a practical way, while also possessing a simple beauty that is pleasing to the senses. He achieves this by using clean lines that most often express a traditional look, sometimes leaning toward the contemporary. His standards of quality involve joining hand-selected hardwoods by the finest methods and finishing each piece with a clarity that enhances the beauty of the wood while offering timeless protection. With an acute attention to detail he assures an heirloom quality piece that will last for generations, or as he likes to put it "as long as it took for nature to form the tree that provides the wood".